Chapter 325 The big fat man has a big responsibility
At dawn on May 14, the forwards of German Army Group B had defeated three Belgian infantry divisions and a French group equipped with heavy weapons on the other side of the Albert Canal, and crossed to the west bank that day.
Among them, an armored regiment commanded by Colonel Ronsenberg used 30 T3 tanks that had crossed the west bank in advance (this was all the available arrival equipment when they first crossed the river), and moved forward along a medium-sized highway.
We advanced to a city called Louvain in the west.
There, they encountered a British expedition against Major General Montgomery's 1st Infantry Brigade of the British 3rd Division.
This battle took place at night, and neither side had a clear idea of the other's specific strength, so neither side rashly used all-out fighting.
Although it was already about 10 o'clock in the evening, in Bock's headquarters, the officers who were accustomed to sleeping late did not take off their burdens to go to bed. They worked overtime to deploy and mobilize the B Group Army Group whose front was getting wider and wider, and to coordinate the various units.
The pace of attack.
"General! The vanguard regiment commanded by Colonel Ronsenberg sent a telegram saying that they had just been surrounded by Louvain and were fighting the British troops there." A combat staff officer rushed into General Bock's headquarters and gave this message
The commander of Army Group B, who went to bed late, reported the bad news before going to bed.
"The vanguard was surrounded by Louvain?!" Bock was shocked when he heard the report. Could it be that the British army launched a counterattack and surrounded the German vanguard?
Although it was only an armored regiment that was under siege, the shock that this news brought to Bock did not lie in the combat situation itself. For him, who commanded an army group with hundreds of thousands of troops, a small man with no more than a thousand people
The fact that several troops were surrounded was not a serious problem. Normally, Bock wouldn't even pay a second glance to a battle of this scale.
However, if it is said that at the moment when the French and Belgian armies are retreating steadily, if the British army can fight a successful encirclement battle against the German army, it will undoubtedly greatly boost the morale of the French and Belgian armies and invigorate the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces.
increasingly decadent spirit
Even if the British army annihilated only a small German vanguard unit without all weapons and equipment, the scale of the battle would not be large. However, this would have a huge impact on their morale. Before that, the Belgian army and
The French army has never won, let alone annihilated the German army on a large scale. The German army has never lost before, and has always maintained the myth of being undefeated, shocking the psychological defense lines of the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces.
"We must not let the vanguard regiment be wiped out!" Bock quickly decided: "Let the Air Force of the Third Air Force find a way to take off the latest FW-190 fighter jets and Stuka bombers to support the Louvain area. The vanguard Ronson must be eliminated quickly.
Colonel Fort’s Crisis.”
"General," after hearing this, the colonel liaison officer of the 3rd Air Force who stayed in the Army Group B headquarters said with a complex expression: "The fw-190 is a day fighter and has never had any experience in night operations. In addition,
, the night bombing of Stuka bombers is also very unsatisfactory due to the problem of vision. It is really difficult for the Air Force to take off fighter planes at night..."
What the colonel liaison officer said is true. Although Reinhardt wanted to strengthen the night combat capabilities of the Luftwaffe as early as the establishment of the Air Force, he had achieved little success. After all, the Luftwaffe was already finished at the beginning.
It is really not easy to eat a big fat man.
In line with the principle that food must be eaten one bite at a time and the road must be walked step by step, the Air Force of the Third Reich chose to improve its daytime combat capabilities first, and then use its remaining energy to find ways to solve the problem of night operations. The result of this was that the Luftwaffe
The combat capability during the day has skyrocketed, and they have not encountered an opponent while flying across Europe. However, night combat should be avoided if possible. It is basically at the level of maintaining "zero combat" at night.
"Of course I know that your air force has difficulties in operating at night, but now I must find a way immediately to prevent the first defeat of the entire campaign in the Louvain area!" Bock shook his head helplessly and said loudly: "We have won all the way until today.
, we must not stumble in a small place like Louvain! The German army’s myth of invincibility must not be broken!”
As Bock spoke, he walked to the wall inside the room, looked at the huge France-Belgium map and said: "Louvain on this map is just a small strategic node that is secondary and cannot be used again. Even if it is bypassed,
There’s nothing wrong with passing it.”
The colonel liaison officer left by the Air Force also walked to the map on the wall and set his sights on the area representing Belgium. After searching for a long time, he finally found the carefully marked place name of Louvain.
Compared with the large cities encircled in bold and encircled, Louvain is indeed too small.
"Have you found the location?" Bock asked the Air Force Colonel sideways without turning his head.
"Yes, General!" The colonel nodded and returned, "This is indeed a small place."
After confirming that the opponent had found the location, Bock then continued: "Yes, this is a small place. However, it is such a small place, but there is no room for error! Look at its location, it is separated from our main force by a distance that cannot be ignored.
The distance is so far, even if we ask the nearest armored division to rush to support, we still have to wait for more than 4 hours of travel time."
This time the colonel understood Bock's intention of letting him look at the map. He was not trying to explain how small Louvain was, but to tell himself how far Louvain was from the large German army. Only Air Force aircraft could reach this distance in time.
Rush to provide support.
"My subordinates understand. I will report to Hugo Speller and ask him to immediately find a way to arrange a batch of air support." The liaison officer pursed his lips and then promised.
He was one of Hugo Speller's most trusted officers, and he was also a key talent trained by Hugo Speller for the Air Force. Because he was young, he was sent to Army Group B by Hugo Speller to serve as the Air Force's third officer.
The liaison officer of the Third Air Force will increase his experience and experience. With his guarantee, Hugo Speller should be able to agree to this night operation.
Thinking of this, Bock showed a happy smile. As a result, he did not waste precious ten minutes to explain to a young colonel.
Speaking of which, Hugo Speller can be regarded as the fattest senior general of the contemporary Luftwaffe. Because Reinhardt killed Göring, the commander of the Luftwaffe in history, early on, Hugo Speller weighed 200 kilograms.
Admiral Peller became the most important air force commander in the Third Reich.
A big fat man has a big responsibility. This fat German man happens to lead the Third Air Force, the largest in the Third Reich's air force, and serves as the commander of the air force.
